Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said he accidentally hit a man he didn't see crossing the street Wednesday morning, as the city's top lawman was driving to police headquarters in a city vehicle.

McClelland described the accident as "unnerving," adding the heavy mix of pedestrians and motorists in Houston's busy downtown district is a "very dangerous situation."

The accident happened about 8:15 a.m. at the intersection of Clay and Travis, about a block from police headquarters, said HPD spokesman John Cannon. Police have not released the name of the man the chief hit, but union officials predicted the chief would not be prosecuted.

"It was just an accident," McClelland explained. "I made a left turn from Clay onto Travis. I had a green light, and obviously he had a green light to walk across the street, and for whatever reason I didn't see him."

McClelland said that at the time he hit the pedestrian, he was wearing a seat belt, was not talking on a cellphone or texting, and estimated his speed in the city-owned Jeep Cherokee was only a few miles per hour.

"It's very unnerving to strike somebody with a vehicle and know they may receive injuries, so it's not a good way to start a day," McClelland said.

McClelland said he went to check on the accident victim at St. Joseph Hospital several hours after the accident, but the man had been discharged. "I'm not sure about the extent of his injuries, but I'm certainly concerned about him," he said.

His accident, the chief said, should remind residents of the dangers of crossing the busy streets downtown.

"It also kind of highlights how we all should be ... extremely careful in the downtown business district where pedestrians are mixing with vehicular traffic, " he said. "It's a very dangerous situation. We've had employees in our own building that have been struck right in front of police headquarters, and my accident was a block away."

McClelland was driving east on Clay in the far left lane, Cannon said. He came to a stop before turning left onto northbound Travis on a green light, looked into the intersection and didn't see anyone in the crosswalk.

Citation not required

"He made the left turn and suddenly an adult male stepped off the curb into a moving lane of traffic," Cannon said.

As is standard procedure, the accident is under investigation by the HPD Vehicular Crimes Division.

However, police union officials doubted McClelland would be issued a ticket, even though pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk.

Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, said city police are not required to issue a citation when an accident occurs, but generally do so when there are witnesses who say a driver was operating a vehicle negligently.

"I would be very surprised if the chief got a ticket. I wouldn't have written him one, nor would I have written a citizen one in that same situation," Hunt said.

17 percent prosecuted

Houston police have said they prosecute traffic cases in which a driver was speeding, racing, driving drunk or impaired in another way, texting or using a cellphone.

A Houston Chronicle review in August 2011 showed that only 17 percent of drivers involved in 174 fatal pedestrian accidents were prosecuted in the previous 3½ years. Many of the pedestrians had broken traffic laws, such as jaywalking or crossing against a light, and a percentage of the drivers fled and were never identified, the Chronicle reported.

"Pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk, and we're sometimes going to have unfortunate situations where they are going to be struck," said Hunt. "When you got a large number of people on foot and driving, you're going to have accidents - that's in any city."